TOM RILEY is about to set hearts racing he stars in new detective drama, Dark Heart.

The chilling two hour drama sees Riley star as Detective Inspector William Wagstaffe, a man haunted by the murder of his mother and father when he was a teenager.

The dark and often gruesome thriller (which begins with a suspected paedophile being tortured with a blow torch) sees DI Wagstaffe on the hunt for a serial killer, who has been murdering men accused of sexual offences against children.

Riley, originally from Maidstone, Kent, speaking exclusively to express.co.uk said he was drawn to the part because it was the chance to play a character driven by his emotions.

The Da Vinci’s Demons star described his character as: “A guy who is too emotionally immature for the job even though he is completely mature enough to be a great detective and three or four steps ahead of the rest of his team.”

Best TV detectives

From Miss Marple to Luther, here are the best detectives on TV.

He said there is a climate of fear on all sides of the political spectrum at the prospect of Trump becoming president.

“It’s very different being out there and seeing it. From this side of the pond we can look at it as like a circus show a bit more and say ‘oh that’s ridiculous’,” he said.

“But there’s real fear there and I’m talking about on both sides of the coin. It’s not just the left-wing Hillary supporters who are scared of what Trump could bring to the stable but also people in the right are scared, that’s what it’s coming to.

“Fear is being used as a very powerful tool, it’s quite scary to watch it over there on the news networks and actually be in it. Even in a very Democratic state like California.”